Creative types are full of themselves, study confirms

You might know some extremely creative people who are anything but humble about their talents -- the full-of-himself actor, the self-important artist, the vain musician, the pompous writer or -- possibly most annoying of all -- the insufferable ad agency creative type (think Don Draper from "Mad Men").

A new study reveals there may be a kernel of truth to these cultural stereotypes.

The research, published in the journal Personality and Individual Differences, stopped short of labeling creative types as jerks, but it didn't paint a pretty portrait of some aspects of their personalities, either. Psychologists asked more than 1,300 college students to complete a personality test and various creativity questionnaires. The data they collected was self-reported and measured creative abilities mainly in arts, crafts, drama, and creative writing.

The researchers looked at how six different personality traits influenced creativity. They found an openness to experience is the personality characteristic with the largest influence on creativity, a result seen in previous studies. Extroversion had a smaller effect, while emotionality and conscientiousness made no difference.

Agreeableness, which indicates that people can compromise, sympathize and get along well with others, also had no effect. But honesty-humility was shown to have a negative influence on creativity.

"Our research didn't find a huge effect, and we certainly aren't claiming that all creative people are insufferably arrogant but, on average, people with a lot of creative accomplishments were less humble and modest," says Paul Silvia, an associate professor of psychology at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro, and the study's lead author.

For Subscribers

FOR SUBSCRIBERSAbdul El-Sayed tries to woo MAHA voters as Democrats seek inroads with RFK’s supporters

FOR SUBSCRIBERSKratom-like substances are popping up in a typically benign supplement

FOR SUBSCRIBERSGOP super PAC increases its spending for Sen. Jon Husted in tough Ohio race

FOR SUBSCRIBERSRecords reveal tumultuous marriage between slain New York Times executive and wife

FOR SUBSCRIBERSFrom clean energy warrior to ‘wall of shame,’ James Talarico reverses on a fossil fuel money pledge

FOR SUBSCRIBERSCongressional staff planned official trip with luxury stops in Italy and France weeks before election

FOR SUBSCRIBERSA harrowing ordeal aboard an Israel-bound plane

FOR SUBSCRIBERSOpenAI CEO Sam Altman to skip congressional hearing on rogue AI agents

FOR SUBSCRIBERSKey DOJ lawyers departed Trump ‘grand conspiracy’ probe amid pressure to produce, source says

FOR SUBSCRIBERSTrump’s new AI chatbot often links to a site launched under Clinton 26 years ago

FOR SUBSCRIBERSAt MAHA summit, industry CEOs the movement once vilified take the stage

FOR SUBSCRIBERSThis Paralympian has two goals: Win medals and give away $500,000 to her teammates

FOR SUBSCRIBERSCornell rape allegation spotlights stringent New York state laws that have long drawn criticism

FOR SUBSCRIBERSThe debate over AI’s future rages on both coasts

FOR SUBSCRIBERSDecades-old march dispute reignites in Northern Ireland, threatening political crisis

While the creative personality has many appealing traits -- being curious, broad-minded, and open to new experiences -- it has a few unappealing ones, like less modesty and more arrogance, explains Silvia.

For Subscribers

FOR SUBSCRIBERSAbdul El-Sayed tries to woo MAHA voters as Democrats seek inroads with RFK’s supporters

FOR SUBSCRIBERSKratom-like substances are popping up in a typically benign supplement

FOR SUBSCRIBERSGOP super PAC increases its spending for Sen. Jon Husted in tough Ohio race

FOR SUBSCRIBERSRecords reveal tumultuous marriage between slain New York Times executive and wife

FOR SUBSCRIBERSFrom clean energy warrior to ‘wall of shame,’ James Talarico reverses on a fossil fuel money pledge

FOR SUBSCRIBERSCongressional staff planned official trip with luxury stops in Italy and France weeks before election

FOR SUBSCRIBERSA harrowing ordeal aboard an Israel-bound plane

FOR SUBSCRIBERSOpenAI CEO Sam Altman to skip congressional hearing on rogue AI agents

FOR SUBSCRIBERSKey DOJ lawyers departed Trump ‘grand conspiracy’ probe amid pressure to produce, source says

FOR SUBSCRIBERSTrump’s new AI chatbot often links to a site launched under Clinton 26 years ago

FOR SUBSCRIBERSAt MAHA summit, industry CEOs the movement once vilified take the stage

FOR SUBSCRIBERSThis Paralympian has two goals: Win medals and give away $500,000 to her teammates

FOR SUBSCRIBERSCornell rape allegation spotlights stringent New York state laws that have long drawn criticism

FOR SUBSCRIBERSThe debate over AI’s future rages on both coasts

FOR SUBSCRIBERSDecades-old march dispute reignites in Northern Ireland, threatening political crisis

But scoring low on honesty-humility characteristics can actually be quite helpful to folks in creative fields. "You're going to have critics and detractors and people who discourage you from pursuing your creative vision," says Silvia. And the farther people get in a creative field, the louder the criticism gets, so it takes some self-assurance to stick with it and take creative risks.

On the flip side, though, creative pursuits often require teachers and mentors to nurture your talents and connect you to people who can get your work out to the public. "So the truly arrogant will have a harder time cultivating the relationships and networks needed to get 'plugged in' to a creative community," points out Silvia.

More creative and less creative people are different in a lot of ways, explains Silvia, and every imaginative person is not a pretentious blowhard. "I suspect that the creative greats can balance genuine grandiosity and genuine humility," he says.